Dear friends,
By tradition, on every June 6 we celebrate the Day of Journalist. This risky profession is very important and honorable in every democratic society.
Journalists not only seek for and distribute information, but they are also meant to be fighters for freedom of speech, they are those who make a difference in protecting and defending media freedom and pluralism.
I am thinking of the journalists who – in spite of the immense pressures they face – keep on working passionately in the pursuit of the highest ideals of their profession. These journalists are sometimes victims of threats, underpaid, or faced with precarious working conditions. In Ukraine, under the ongoing hybrid war, modern journalists have become true warriors of the information front.
Russia carries out aggression against Ukraine in all possible forms. And this aggression is not only military by nature. The invader is undertaking real informational attacks against Ukraine, performing acts of sabotage in great numbers. In this war, Ukrainian journalists are defending our country with their dominant weapon – with word.
On this particular day, I would like to congratulate and thank our military correspondents, who, at the risk of their own lives, are day by day under enemy's fire, so that Ukrainians could receive a fair, well-balanced and timely information from the fronts where our soldiers protect Ukraine’s peace, integrity and independence.
I sincerely thank all Ukrainian journalists for their responsibility, competency and patriotism in fighting fake news and hostile information attacks.
I wish all the journalists happiness, joy, a sound health, inspiration, creative ideas and new achievements in our joint work for the sake of Ukraine's success and victory.